The purpose of the study was to determine the effects of truncation of various regions of betaB1-crystallin on its structural properties and stability of heterooligomers formed by wild-type (WT) betaB1 or its deletion mutants with WT betaA3-crystallin.

The mechanisms underlying Tau-related synaptic and cognitive deficits and the interrelationships between Tau species, their clearance pathways, and synaptic impairments remain poorly understood. To gain insight into these mechanisms, we examined these interrelationships in aged non-mutant genomic human Tau mice, with established Tau pathology and neuron loss. We also examined how these interrelationships changed with an intervention by feeding mice either a control diet or one containing the brain permeable beta-amyloid and Tau aggregate binding molecule curcumin.

Retinoic X receptor (RXR) is a promising target for drug discovery against cancer and metabolic syndromes. Here, we identified a specific RXRα antagonist, danthron, from the traditional Chinese medicine rhubarb. Danthron repressed all tested RXRα-involved response element transcription, including the RXRE, PPRE, FXRE, and LXRE. Results from native PAGE and isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC)-based assays indicated that danthron bound to the tetrameric RXRα-LBD in a specific stoichimetric ratio, and such a binding could influence the corepressor SMRT affinity to the receptor.

In this research, we have established a drug screening method based on the autophagy signal pathway using the bimolecular fluorescence complementation-fluorescence resonance energy transfer (BiFC-FRET) technique to develop novel anti-influenza A virus (IAV) drugs. We selected Evodia rutaecarpa Benth out of 83 examples of traditional Chinese medicine and explored the mechanisms of evodiamine, the major active component of Evodia rutaecarpa Benth, on anti-IAV activity.